RGBW
by elevyns
Summary: MaxAlec, oneshot. Alec is shot, and Max reacts.


**Title:** RGBW (Really Good Baby Wipes)  
**Author:** spiltcoffeee  
**Disclaimer:** Not mine. Unfortunately.  
**Pairing:** MA  
**Rating:** PG  
**Word Count:** 800  
**Summary:** Alec is shot. Max reacts.  
**A/N :** Really good baby wipes? I don't know, so don't ask :P It's got nothing to do with the actual content of the story, but I was babysitting when I wrote this. Love! Written May 4 – 24, 2007.

_RGBW (Really Good Baby Wipes)_

All she saw was red.

Blood, everywhere. Because of her. She'd trusted his intel. And she'd made a mistake.

They could have holed up in TC until the government cooperated. Or at least negotiated. But she hadn't wanted to.

When Logan—even thinking about him brought a bitter taste to her mouth—told her about a new Manticore facility in Portland, she'd rallied the troops right away and they would have been damn hard to defeat. Except the ambush of White's men that had been waiting for them was a surprise.

Red. Red. Red.  
Dark stains on clothes.  
Hot blood pumping through her veins.  
Sticky, warm blood pumping out of him.

Alec.

----------

All he saw was brown.

Chocolate brown eyes. Full of love and warmth. He'd never told her he loved her. And he'd made a mistake.

He never really knew—he didn't know what love was. He didn't know what it meant until now. But he hadn't wanted to.

An inch and a half higher and the bullet would have killed him instantly. He would have died doing what he was good at—not fighting in itself, but fighting for a cause. At Manticore he thought it was for the good of the country, to save millions of innocents. Here he was fighting for her; her life, her freedom.

Brown. Brown. Brown.  
The way her hair dried perfectly like she'd spent hours.  
The way her cheeks heated up when she'd yell at Mole or Dix.  
The way her eyes flared with passion when she'd yell at him.

Max.

He closed his eyes.

----------

The first thing she saw a week later was green.  
Speckled green.  
She thought that if she could bottle that color it would be called happiness. Or pain-in-the-ass. Or knight-in-shining armor. She couldn't decide which.

She had never been so happy to see anyone smile at her.

----------

The first thing he saw a week later was white.  
Ethereal white.  
She was glowing. Radiant would be a better word to describe her, though. Or eternally-PMSy. He couldn't decide which.

The hospital lights faded and he smiled. He thought that his brain must have been seriously oxygen deprived, because he thought he saw her smile back.

----------

"Hey."  
"Hi."  
"How ya feelin'?"  
"Like I been shot."

Silence. It's not uncomfortable, but palpable and concrete. A dark, misty grey cloud rumbles in the distance. Rain falls outside the makeshift hospital. The sheets aren't exactly white, but they aren't bloodstained, and that's the only thing that really matters.

"Logan—"  
"Don't, Alec. Please."  
"I need to say this, Max."

He fumbles, runs his hand through his dirty, mucky, greasy hair and rubs his neck. His barcode. His existence. The reason he met her.

"He's out of our lives, Alec, for good, and I'm glad. He's made his point clear. We're not who he thought we were, apparently."  
"That's not what I meant."  
"I mean, he knew we were genetically engineered soldiers and that when we were kids we didn't know better and he's still—"  
"Max, I love you."

She blinks. White hot lightning flashes outside and the room that Joshua's painted all the colors of the rainbow—moss green, sky blue, hot pink—are illuminated and it's beautiful. They don't notice. It's a rare moment where she has nothing to say but means to say everything.

"I meant to say that Logan never loved you. Logan never appreciated you. Not like he should have."  
"I know, Alec."

It's his turn to be taken aback. Everyone says red is the color of passion, of fire, of love, but he is inclined to disagree.

When he looks into her eyes and smiles at her, he knows what love is.

Her eyes are a deep, chocolate brown and even when she hasn't slept in four days or showered in eight, she's beautiful. And when he looks at her, he knows they're going to love each other until forever. And he's happy.

When she looks into his eyes and smiles at him, she knows what happiness is.

It's the speckled green of his eyes and the sound of his laugh and the taste of his kiss. And when he looks at her, she knows they're going to be happy until forever. And she loves him.


End file.
